Creator Camp Founders Present An Enthusiastic Pitch On Shark Tank Season 16
Highlights
- Creator Camp is an edtech summer program for kids that helps them learn content creation, filmmaking, animation, music production, and game design.
- The Sharks are impressed with their enthusiastic pitch.
- The entrepreneurs receive an offer from a prominent Shark Tank investor.
Overview
| Category | Details |
| Name | Creator Camp |
| Founder | Cazden Morrison, Kai Forman, Jacky Chao |
| Industry | Education Technology |
| Product | Edtech Summer Program |
| Funding | Self-funded |
| Investment Ask | $350K |
| Equity Offered | 5% |
| Valuation | $7 million |
The entrepreneur trio of Cazden Morrison, Kai Forman, and Jacky Chao tried their luck on Shark Tank Season 16 with their solution for kids with excessive screen time. Creator Camp is an edtech summer program that teaches kids content creation, filmmaking, animation, music production, and game design using their tablets.
The trio starts the Creator Camp Shark Tank pitch by discussing how kids aged between 8 and 12 spend an average of eight hours a day on screens. Their activities during this period include gaming, watching ‘mindless’ videos, and scrolling. This is why Creator Camp tries to ensure a positive relationship between kids and technology.
At Creator Camp, the entrepreneurs are trying to teach the students technical skills through courses that include video editing, audio engineering, and online safety. The trio’s end goal is to endorse and encourage creativity and collaboration.
Creator Camp: What Happened On Shark Tank Season 16
The entrepreneur trio enters Shark Tank seeking $350K for 5% equity in their company. The Sharks loved their enthusiastic presentation style. An excited Rashuan Williams thinks Creator Camp is much needed and asks about their launch. The company was started in 2020.
Lori Greiner asks about sales. In their first year, Creator Camp made $60K in revenues through just one location. In 2021, Creator Camp grew its team and earned $100K. The next year, it started to ‘snowball’ and expanded to multiple locations. Revenue made was $300K.
Year to date, Creator Camp has made $840K in 2024. All of its camps are in-person, and 27 of them are in Texas. Regarding the locations, the entrepreneurs state that they partner with schools, churches, and community centers to use the space as a classroom and install Wi-Fi.
Through this, the Creator Camp owners also get to advertise to their student bodies and occasionally hire some of their teachers. They run three to four camps at a time with 20 kids each, each lasting two to three days. On average, for their three-day courses, the trio charges $250 per kid.
Kai used to be a YouTuber with 140K subscribers and 50 million channel views. Cazden and Jacky hail from film and design & animation backgrounds, respectively. Kai connected with the other two during the pandemic.
Kevin O’Leary thinks the $7 million valuation is a ‘little rich.’ Cazden replies that they are eyeing growth within a year by reaching 35 Creator Camp locations, which will yield $1.3 million in revenue. Further, they are looking to reach Washington, D.C. Kai highlights that Creator Camp was featured in ‘The Washington Post.’
Kai, Cazden, and Jacky hold 26%, 24%, and 22% of the company, respectively. They have another co-founder and a full-time hire, their IT guy, who holds 1% of Creator Camp.
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Did Shark Tank Invest In Creator Camp?
Mark Cuban is the first investor to opt out of the Creator Camp Shark Tank deal. He feels it will conflict with his previous Mark Cuban AI Bootcamp, which offers similar services. Lori thinks the idea is ‘clever,’ but it is not the right investment for her. So, she, too, steps out of the deal. Kevin exits the deal, citing the high valuation.
Rashuan does not make an offer as he thinks the Creator Camp investment would not help him cope with his 90% losses from previous investments.
Seeing the Sharks step out one after the other, Kai claims that their goal is to reach 250 locations by 2030. By that time, they will have made $25 million in revenue.
Barbara Corcoran then comments, ‘You’ll be an old man by the time you get there.’ She thinks both she and the company can make money if they turn it into a franchise. However, she is not convinced of the business structure and says they cannot make good money unless they charge a franchise fee.
Barbara offers $350K for 25% equity on the condition that they turn Creator Camp into a franchise. The trio counters her with 15% equity. Barbara re-counters it with 20% equity. Kai counters again for 17.5%. Barbara disagrees and says it is a ‘halfway compromise.’
The trio revises their offer to $400K for 20% equity. Barbara declined and offered $350K for 19% equity so that they have their ‘ego intact.’ Kai counters again with 18% equity, which Barbara accepts.
As a result, Creator Camp locks the deal with Barbara on Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 5 for $350K at 18% equity.
More products from this episode! Check out other businesses that participated alongside Creator Camp.
